Clues to Antique Chairs

Some pieces of antique furniture are like an open book. A casual familiarity with the trade allows you to readily identify the period of a piece of Golden Oak or to correctly label a Victorian Rococo Revival couch. A number of technical elements can easily tell the age of a drop front desk and a bed is a dead giveaway based on the hardware of the siderails. But what about a chair? Chairs are not quite so open about themselves, and like a friend’s skittish pet, it may take a while to get to know it— and for it to know you.

The first thing to know about a chair is what kind of chair is it? Chairs and similar seating platforms have been made for thousands of years, but in modern times in the Western world chairs boil down to one of three types—turner’s chairs, Windsor chairs and cabinetmaker’s chairs.

Turner’s chairs are exactly what they sound like; they are assembled from pieces turned on a lathe, and usually employ a round mortise and tenon joint for the construction. Everything is round in the eyes of a turner. This type of chair was one of the first that was mass produced because of the simplicity of the elements and the construction.

A Windsor chair consists of a more or less flat seat, into which legs are inserted from below, again using a generally round mortise and tenon joint. The upper section of the chair consists of turned spindles inserted in the seat and topped, usually, by the bent hoop that composes the equivalent of a crest rail. The distinguishing feature of a Windsor is that no element of the chair is continuous from top to floor. Almost everything has a terminus in the seat except the lower stretchers which connect leg to leg, back hoops that form arms, and crest rails that sit impaled on stiles which are implanted into the seat but do not contact the floor.

Cabinetmaker’s chairs are made from sawn and shaped elements, often elaborately carved. The normal joint in this type of chair is the rectangular mortise and tenon and in the later incarnations of the industrial age, the dowel joint. The most commonly seen chair in today’s market is the cabinetmaker’s chair.

Cabinetmaker’s chairs, at first, seem to be the hardest to read. No joinery is visible except the occasional through tenon peeking out the rear stile or the apparent presence of a pin, the “true nail” or “trunnel,” securing a mortise and tenon joint. Without these scant clues and without performing some destructive testing, like opening a joint, it is very difficult to tell if the chair was assembled with mortise and tenons or dowels.

Mortise & tenon: This photograph shows what a mortise and tenon joint looks like when taken apart.

Through tenon: This chair shows clear evidence of mortise and tenon joinery by the exposed tenon and the two “trunnels” that hold the opposing tenon in place.

But there very often is another clue that can be used if it can be seen. That is the manner in which the corners of the seat frame are blocked. Since most cabinetmaker’s chairs are upholstered, access to corner blocking is not always easy unless the chair has a removable slip seat or unless you are able to remove some of the bottom dust cover to see into the interior. But if you can get there you may find some real help in identifying the chair.

The blocking in mid 18th century chairs was almost always done using a soft wood with several small blocks in each corner. The grain of the blocks usually runs vertically and since all fasteners of that period were handmade, very few 18th century corner blocks have original nails or screws in them. In keeping with the concept of “workmanlike manner,” i.e. if it doesn’t show don’t spend any time on it, most original 18th century corner blocks are unfinished, just like the insides of the seat rails.

18th century: This photograph shows the vertical softwood blocks used in an 18th century chair.

By the beginning of the 19th century, many cabinetmakers were no longer using the corner blocks and instead relied on a type of cleat to span the corner and connect the front rail to the side rail, bypassing actual contact with the corner altogether. These narrow cleats were usually a hardwood with the grain running horizontally and were glued into notches cut into the tops of the rails. They were fairly shallow and did not extend the full depth of the rails.

19th century: This is an early 19th century chair corner “cleat.”

By mid century, with the Industrial Revolution reaching maturity and the factory system in full swing, corner blocking became more elaborate. Many Victorian era pieces, especially later in the period, had blocks shaped to cover each corner completely, securing two rails and the leg. In addition to being glued many blocks of the time also had the newly introduced, machine made, readily available gimlet screw to help hold it fast.

Victorian: This illustration shows a 19th century shaped Victorian block that touches the corner and the rails.

At the beginning of the 20th century, another technological innovation influenced corner blocks. That was the development of commercial plywood. This new type of surface became the seat bottom of choice in much of the mid grade furniture production of the first half of the century. Some way was needed to secure the new seating material to the chair and screwing it to the corner blocks was the logical step. Corner blocks of the Depression era emulated those of 100 years prior in that once again they did not actually cover the corner but only connected rail to rail. But this time they were glued and screwed and had another hole in the center to accommodate the seat bottom fastener.

With the advent of strong dowel joints, reinforced with new resin glues, corner blocks almost became superfluous to the structure of the chair. Their new job focused primarily on holding and supporting the seat.

20th century: A 20th century block that avoids the corner and has a hole in the middle for the screw that secures the seat.

So the enigmatic chair does have something to tell you after all. You just have to get to know it a little better.

WorthPoint: Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles
Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or email them to me at info@furnituredetective.com.

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Hello, I would like to ask a question if possible ? I have what I think is an early victorian nursing upholstered chair, in need of restoration, with an iron rail forming the top of the back and down the sides to and including the arms. There are vertical supports between the seat and the top the backrest.
Can you tell me when this type of frame was in use to give me a nearer idea of age please ? I do have a photo if that helps.
Thank you for your assistance
regards
Tony Wellard